Data for the future: The German project “Co‐operative development of a long‐term digital information archive” (kopal)
Abstract
Purpose
One of the unresolved problems of the global information society is ensuring the long‐term accessibility of digital documents. The project kopal tackles this problem head‐on: in a three‐year project kopal's objective is the practical testing and implementation of a cooperatively created and operated long‐term archival system for digital resources.
Design/methodology/approach
The system will be implemented in accordance with international standards for long‐term archiving and metadata within the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) framework. The project partners, Die Deutsche Bibliothek (DDB), Göttingen State and University Library (SUB Göttingen), IBM Deutschland GmbH and the Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen (GWDG), will establish a cooperatively transferable solution for cultural heritage institutions, as well as for business and industry.
Findings
Within the project, the project partners DDB and SUB Göttingen are developing software for the input and access of data, which will be released under an open‐source license.
Research limitations/implications
Long‐term preservation methods and strategies will be discussed in general in the paper.
Practical implications
The project will present a stable and reusable platform for additional partners and users, especially for cultural heritage organisations.
Originality/value
The solution is based on Digital Information and Archiving System (DIAS), jointly devised by IBM and the National Library of The Netherlands in The Hague, and it will be adapted to the needs of the project with several extensions. Establishing a collaborative solution for long‐term preservation is a milestone in the development of systems for the long‐term availability of digital objects.
Keywords
Citation
Altenhöner, R. (2006), "Data for the future: The German project “Co‐operative development of a long‐term digital information archive” (kopal)", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 574-582. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830610715437
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited